Brendan Byrne

Brendan Byrne, a two-term New Jersey governor, as well as county prosecutor and judge, has died at age 93.

While he's often remembered for shepherding through the legalization of casino gambling and for appointing Chief Justice Robert Wilentz to what would become the most influential state Supreme Court of the modern constitutional era in New Jersey, Byrne got his start as a private practitioner in Essex County, after serving in the military during World War II and graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Law. A West Orange native, Byrne was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1951.

Byrne, a Democrat, began public sector practice as a legal adviser to then-Gov. Robert Meyner, later becoming Essex County prosecutor for two terms, and then a Superior Court judge. He won his first of two gubernatorial races in 1973.